SURJIT SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, a retired teacher, prays for the issue of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to re-determine his pension and other allied benefits by taking into consideration the service rendered by him in a school run by the District Board. A few facts may be noticed.

(2.) The petitioner joined service as a J.B.T. teacher in the District Primary School, Bija, on December 10, 1947. He was posted at different places in different schools run by the District Board till September 30, 1957. On October 1, 1957, the State Government provincialised the services of the teachers working in the District Board schools. As a result, the petitioner's services were provincialised. He was given benefit of the increments earned by him in the District Board schools. The petitioner ultimately retired from service on March 31, 1976. His retiral benefits were computed on the basis of the service rendered by him from October 1, 1957 to March 31, 1976. The petitioner complains that the respondents had wrongly excluded the period of service rendered by him in District Board schools from December 10, 1947 to September 30, 1957. He represented to the Director of Public Instruction. Copies of some of the representations submitted by the petitioner have been produced as Annexures P-1 to P-4 with the writ petition. When nothing was done, he filed the present writ petition.

(3.) The respondents contest the petitioner's claim. A written statement has been filed on their behalf by the Administrative Officer, Office of the District Education Officer, Ludhiana. A number of preliminary objections have been raised. However, the only objection which was pressed at the hearing was that the petitioner having retired on April 1, 1976, the writ petition was liable to be dismissed on account of delay. On merits, it has been averred that the service book of the petitioner is not available. The pension has been fixed in accordance with the provisions of Rule 13 of the Punjab Education Service (Provincialised Cadre) Class-III Rules, 1961, and Rule 3.17 of the Punjab Civil Services Rules, Volume II, after determining the qualifying service.